D.J. Foster

In just a few short hours, the NBA trade deadline will pass. If history is any indicator, we’ll see somewhere in the range of eight trades go through. Some will be big, and some will be small…and none will have as big of an impact on the title picture as the return of Russell Westbrook will.…

Many wondered if 34-year-old forward Lamar Odom would ever play basketball again after an offseason that included rumors of drug abuse and a DUI charge. Now we have our answer. After temporarily drawing interest from teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers earlier this season, Odom has decided to continue his basketball…

When LeBron James left Cleveland for Miami nearly four years ago, emotions were obviously running pretty high. A lot of things that probably shouldn’t have been said were said. Media, fans, LeBron — it wasn’t handled all that well by anyone. But let’s make one thing clear: no one handled himself as poorly as Cavs…

And the rich stand to get much, much richer. The Oklahoma City Thunder already own the league’s best record, and if you had to call it right now, they have the league MVP in Kevin Durant as well. Most thought the Thunder could reasonably stay afloat during this time, but few expected them to thrive…

We all know that slow-motion makes everything much more dramatic and generally way cooler. It’s science. That’s a good thing, because last night’s dunk contest was all sort of a weird blur. Harrison Barnes attempted a layup (no, seriously) in the freestyle dunk period. Paul George did some cool stuff we couldn’t properly react to.…

All-Star Saturday night had its ups and downs. The three-point contest started slow but ended with some nice drama when Bradley Beal pushed eventual winner Marco Belinelli to a shoot-off. This is the only consistently enjoyable event, and it didn’t fail once again. As for the dunk contest? It was…interesting? The team format was a…

The thought of Tim Hardaway Jr. learning just about anything from J.R. Smith is a little terrifying if you’re a Knicks fan, but you’ve got to admit: this was pretty funny. Earlier this season Smith received one of the oddest fines from the league you’ll ever see when he got docked 50 large for “repeated…

Ersan Ilyasova is Milwaukee’s longest tenured player. He’s been there for the mediocre times, and he’s been there for the slightly worse than mediocre times. Over the course of five and a half seasons, the 26 year old forward has had ample opportunity to see exactly how the Bucks operate on every level. Basically, Ilyasova has…

Carmelo Anthony has been making the rounds during All-Star weekend, and as you’d expect, the focus of the questions are primarily on his pending free agency decision. But to Anthony’s credit, he hasn’t shied away from it or been vague. Instead, he’s cleared the air on why he’s entering free agency, he’s stated what his…

All-Star weekend is upon us. While the rest of the PBT crew gets to eat beignets and earn beads for showing a little skin (that’s how that works, right?), some of us will be stuck at home watching the celebrity game and reevaluating our life choices. Not that I’m bitter or anything. Not at all.…

Let’s take a look at three players who were in action Tuesday night who deserve starting jobs sooner rather than later. Jeremy Lamb, Oklahoma City Thunder Reggie Jackson has understandably received plenty of praise in Russell Westbrook‘s absence, but don’t sleep on Lamb’s emergence as a reliable scorer. With Thabo Sefolosha struggling to find his…

10 days before the trade deadline. 30 games left in the season. One contract year remaining. To say this is one of the most important time frames in the history of the Minnesota Timberwolves franchise isn’t overly dramatic or hyperbolic. It’s reality. Minnesota has never won a championship. 25 years, no rings, and an overall…

Tell me if this sounds at all familiar. 24 years old, about 6-foot-8, 6-foot-9. Roughly 250 pounds. Stronger and faster than just about everyone. Phenomenal basketball IQ. Highly skilled, but often criticized for what he can’t do instead of appreciated for what he does. That’s Blake Griffin. And at one point, that was LeBron James,…

With the first half of the season in the books, let’s look at five players who deserve to get a little more burn the rest of the way. John Henson, F/C, Milwaukee Bucks Before we get to Henson, let’s travel in the way back machine to the 2009-10 season. If you’ll remember, Kurt Rambis was…

The 2013-14 All-Star game in New Orleans is still 30 days away, but the starters will be announced January 23rd and the reserves will follow on January 30th. There’s only a few days of voting left, and since I’m not good with hashtags or 140 character limits or following directions, I thought I’d put my…

If you missed it last week, the Miami Heat and Brooklyn Nets played with nicknames on the back of their jerseys instead of their last names. Once I was able to shush the crotchety old man that sometimes takes over my brain, I really enjoyed it. Ray Allen‘s “J. Shuttlesworth” jersey, a nod to his…

Due to injuries and the lack of a transcendent talent, this year’s draft class has been pretty underwhelming as a whole. Still, that doesn’t mean there haven’t been a few pleasant surprises along the way. Now that we’ve had a little more time to evaluate, let’s check in on three of the most impressive rookies…

If the end of a year serves as a time for reflection and the remembrance of lessons learned, then let the video below serve as one last reminder for the small guards of the league. If LeBron James is coming at you on a break, move. If DeAndre Jordan is flying down the lane towards…

Pressure reveals character, and the last minutes of the Clippers road matchup with Portland did just that. Down the stretch, both teams played perfectly to their strengths. The Blazers ran everything through LaMarcus Aldirdge (32 points) on the left block, surrounding him with three-point shooters and daring the Clippers to double. The Clippers, meanwhile, put the…

You know those nightmares where you can’t run away fast enough? The ones where your legs turn to mush and the baddy behind you keeps gaining ground? That’s a recurring nightmare for lots of people, but it’s a recurring reality for Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer. Budenholzer was on the sidelines with the San…

The Signature Series takes a look at a play that’s largely unique to one team. Here’s San Antonio’s “Hammer” set. The San Antonio Spurs don’t get enough credit for keeping up with the times. Although the end result is often the same as it has always been – Tim Duncan facing up and banking a…

Over the next few days in this space, we’ll break down a play that’s largely unique to one team. To kick off this signature series, we’ll start with the Los Angeles Clippers’ “Ring-Around-The-Rosie” screen. Innovation in the NBA is often about adding little wrinkles to something very simple. There are no “Wildcat” offenses that take…

In Eric Bledsoe’s final game with the Los Angeles Clippers last season, he played nine minutes and 28 seconds. In that game, the Memphis Grizzlies scored 118 points despite possessing what most would consider a below-average offense. Mike Conley, a player Bledsoe has routinely shut down throughout his career, went to the free throw line…

By D.J. Foster All over the league, we’ve seen young teams fighting against the tank. If the playoffs started today, the Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns would be in the playoffs. This was unfathomable a few months ago. It wasn’t just about their rosters being bad – they were supposed to be bad. The Milwaukee…

After watching two of the league’s best starting lineups duke it out in Indiana, let’s check in on the best and worst lineups around the league so far this season. Best Net Efficiency Rating (minimum 150 minutes) Houston: Patrick Beverley–James Harden–Chandler Parsons–Terrence Jones–Dwight Howard Net efficiency is the difference between a team’s offensive rating and…